New York Life Investment Management LLC Buys 38,916 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 29.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,916 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $22,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,199,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,113,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,605,000 after purchasing an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth $91,044,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $72,265,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 2.8 %

DFS opened at $128.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.67. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $147.61. The stock has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services Profile

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; private student loans, personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.